InstaFriday!

Friday! Friday! FRIIIIDAAAAYYYY!
Man, this is my favorite day of the week.

It's the day I can stay up as late as I want knowing I can sleep in the next day.
It's the day Andy and I snuggle up on the couch watching movies after the kids go to sleep.
It's so full of that
looking forward to something
kind of excitement that bubbles up inside
and makes you giddy.

Because it's the day before two full days as a whole family!

And it's INSTAFriday!

There's something awesome about how a few simple minutes reading someone's blog can put a smile on your face and brighten your view of the day.

And I always find a new blog on InstaFriday because what you decide to take a picture of with your cell phone is usually something little that made you smile.
And I appreciate people who can enjoy the little things in life.



I smiled this week when Andy walked in the door with these.

And I smiled when I got to wear my favorite Bella mittens.

This fabulous find at the thrift store made me smile.
It's perfect for my sewing room.
It's so bright.
It's like a party made of yarn.

Strawberries cut like hearts in my Love Martini at the Melting Pot made me smile.
Coconut rum and cranberry juice.
Well, hello Love Martini!

And how can s'mores chocolate fondue not make you smile?!

The gift of a poem my grandmother wrote about my mom in 1950 when she was Abby's age from my Aunt Glennie made me smile with tears in my eyes.

Along with this picture of my mom.
Look at those chunky legs and that curly hair!

This kid's smiles and giggles are just darn right contagious!
I'm serious.
He could start an epidemic.

A new tutu for Abby makes me smile.
Well, it will when it is done anyway.

Wandering around a fabric store with my BFF for over 2 hours
AND
taking home new fabric for a funky vintage feel quilt makes me smile.
Like a huge, cheesy, show all my teeth kind of smile.

My messy sewing room did not make me smile...

but the end result after a couple hours decluttering and organizing did!

Seeing my new thrift store find and a happy baby in my clean sewing room made me smile.

And this just me laugh when I saw it hanging up in the hall outside AJ's classroom.
This is how AJ described me at school to his teacher.
Glad to see I'm making a good impression on him.

Bob Ross as a Lego man makes me smile.
I can just hear him say,
"And this little happy tree lives here as content as can be, looking at the lake."

Reading makes me smile.
Although The Host by Stephanie Meyer is kinda hard for me to get into.
I don't know why an alien invasion love story would be hard to get into?

Have a great weekend!
I'm planning on snuggle lovin' some cute kids, laughing with my husband...probably at those said cute kids, making a tutu, reading an alien love story, seeing The Vow, and
HAVING A SLEEP OVER WITH MY BFF...
because I'm 14 at heart.

What are you up to?

Journals

I love journals.
I love everything about them.

I love that they capture and preserve your emotions and beliefs forever.
I love that they are a window into your soul, a legacy safely kept...waiting to be reopened.
I love that they bring you back to a time in the past.

I believe that you can never have too many journals.
I believe that there are no rules to journaling.
No expectations.
Any small amount on a page is a gift.

Sometimes I write actual journal entries reflecting on that time in my life.
Sometimes I record my favorite quotes or quotes that speak to me for some reason.
Sometimes I just list silly things.
Sometimes I write poems.

Sometimes I don't write in them for a year.

But I always go back and read them.

Some of my journals are from high school, some I have bought for myself, some have been given to me by some of my most favorite people in my life.

One of my biggest comforts in life is wandering through a book store with someone I love...
a best friend, a sister, or Andy.
I always end up perusing the quote books and journals.
And if it's a really good day, I take one home.

Last week on our date day, Andy and I ended up in Barnes and Noble.
Andy in the garden section...
Me in the journal section.

I wanted to take them all home, but I was happy to just take this one home also.

365 questions
5 years
1,825 answers

One answer a day.
Just a few short words.
Rewarding.
Healing.
Manageable.

Kool Valentines

My kids love Kool-Aid.
I'm okay with them drinking it in limited quantities.

I have memories of drinking Kool-Aid at the baby sitters in little Kool-Aid man plastic cups...
like these as a kid.

It's a cool memory.
I might have to buy those little Kool-Aid plastic man cups,
so my kids get the full Kool-Aid drinking experience.
What am I saying? It's a done deal.
As soon as I post this, that set is as good as mine.
It's meant to be. 3 kids, 4 cups...leaving one for me.
Fate I tell ya.

That Kool-Aid man (Does he have a name?) is an authentic part of childhood to me.
And I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

So when AJ said he wanted Kool-Aid valentines this year,
I have to admit, I was pysced.
Now, the parents of Abby and AJ's classmates may not be crazy excited about these said Kool-Aid valentines...
but it's not like the time I put train whistles in the Easter eggs at the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt. I looked away when someone asked who did that.
Yeah, sorry about that neighbors. That wasn't very well thought out.

I did pick a flavor I thought wouldn't stain for this adventure.

You can print your own super kool valentines HERE.

The crazy straws were $1.99 for 8 at U.S. Constructive Playthings and
the Kool-Aid packets were 19 cents at King Soopers.

For the teachers, I went with chocolate.
Because I love them.

Insta Friday

Hello Friday!

I'm SO flipping excited it's Friday!

And not just ANY Friday friends.
This is the Friday before my date night!

Date night where ALL 3 kids spend the night with nana and papa,
and I go to the Melting Pot with my man.

A day without smelling like spit up...
or fighting the potty training battle.

Date.Night.People.
This is a glorious Friday.

Now, don't get me wrong...
I love my kids.
But sometimes you just need to refresh and renew.
It's healthy.
I think it makes us better parents.

Word to your mom.

And on such a glorious Friday, start something new.
Start doing something with all those pics you take on that electronic device
and click the button below to link up to Insta-Friday!

I know you take pics with your phone.
Now let me see them.
No pressure.

Well maybe just a little pressure.
C'mon. It's an easy post every week.
Now get on it.

Sledding.
I.love.sledding.
I love extreme sledding.
I went down the hill more than my children.
I even tried to make my own sledding hill in the back yard.
It wasn't safe.
I have bruises all over my body.
But, man did I laugh.
I want this Lucky Bums Kids Snow Racer Extreme Sled.
Not.kidding.
It's on my Christmas list for next year.

AJ was a dino in a school play this week.
I may be a little biased, but he was about the cutest dinosaur I have ever seen.
He roared.
Man, it was one hell of a cute roar.

Sometimes I feel guilty for not doing enough educational stuff with my kids...
and when that happens they get all kinds of educational activities crammed into one afternoon...
and then we are all tired and I have a mess to clean up.
And it's usually a month before the activity marathon happens again.
AJ calls it school time and asks for school time everyday.
I have to tell ya, I could not home school my children.
We play too much.

Wednesday we walked a tightrope of letters/shapes, traced our name/practiced writing our first and last name, practiced counting, practiced our sight word ring, did some building words...

Went on a scavenger hunt for yellow things and things that started with a.
Things around the house that start with a are kinda hard...
angry birds, apples, apricot...???

AJ requested "A" cookies with yellow frosting and sprinkles for his half birthday at school...
which really falls next week, but with V-day we sent cookies this week.
My last batch were really hard, so I found a new recipe.
Click the red link to make your own not hard as rocks cookies.
I also discovered via a commenter from the recipe link that, rolling out the dough on parchment paper, cutting out the cookie, and pulling the dough outside the cutter is way easier than
cutting and trying to movie the cookie. This way you just slide the parchment paper right on the cookie sheet. Seems easy enough, but I didn't think of it. I struggled with moving every cookie after cutting it...then trying to reshape it on the cookie sheet. And when you pull the cookies out, they just peel right off the parchment paper.

Brody Bear continues to just radiate joy.

I received some of the busy bags from the busy bag swap I participated in this week!
Busy bags...who know?!
These things really help a mom out.
And people are so clever.
Going clockwise,
the first one is a beginning sounds activity where the kiddos clip the letters that spell the words on the card...AJ loves this one...and I feel like a good mom that he is practicing phonics...
the next one is laminated so kids can make the letters out of play-doh...
then you have some patterning and fine motor practice...
and a button snake for shapes, colors, patterns, fine motor...

We also got a memory game, some pop stick puzzles, and a color matching activity.

Seriously, up until a couple weeks ago I didn't know about busy bags.
I have seen the light.
They save me multiple times a day now.
Just google busy bag ideas...there are TONS of ideas out there.

I think I could become addicted to busy bag swaps.
Then we won't have to do marathon school time afternoons.
These busy bags are a fabulous thing.

And now I need to go pack my kids' bags for nana and papa's house...
and start primping for my big date night.

Melting Pot here I come!

So Into Gray Lately

West Elm

Mod Cloth

PB Teen

Curry On The Couch

Camilla Cotton

Shop Sweet Lulu

Insta Fri...er...Monday Again

Man, some weeks are like a whirlwind.
Where you don't even realize you've been holding your breath,
till you exhale a sigh of exhaustion and fall onto the couch.

Nothing like 3 sick kids to wear this momma out.

I finally tried out my new bread maker I got for Christmas.
I.love.bread.
Seriously, if I had to choose only one food to survive on the rest of my life
warm, fresh bread would be it.

Andy made Belgian waffles with blueberry syrup for breakfast last weekend with our farmhouse waffle maker...
because waffles are just more fun in the shape of cows, chickens, and barns.

This little guy is grabbing toys and playing now.
He plays till he is just all tuckered out.
I love it when they just fall asleep right where they are at.

I couldn't resist capturing this moment.
She is such a multi-tasker.

I crammed Abby into her birthday apron dress as a shirt one last year
on the day she brought cupcakes to her class.
I love that when they outgrow it as a dress, they can still wear it as a shirt!

I feel so blessed to get to participate in a busy bag swap this week!
There are so many fabulous ideas out there, I had a hard time deciding what to make.
I finally decided I needed to sew something because sewing is what I do...
and if you are going to get a busy bag from me it should be sewn.
This is how I think in my crazy head.

So I Spy bags it was!
They are super simple and really cheap to make.
I had most of the items around the house.
I bought the crayon key chains, dinosaurs, clear vinyl, and plastic craft pellets.
The crayon key chains were $2 and dinosaurs $3 at US Constructive Playthings.
I put the plastic crayon in the bag and used the rings off the key chain part to connect the picture to the bag with ribbon I already had.
The clear vinyl is $3 a yard at Joanns.
One yard of fleece was $3 at Joanns with a coupon.
The plastic craft pellets are $9 at Michaels, but only like $5.50 with a coupon.
I have a laminator machine.
The pics where 13 cent each to print.
I made 12 bags...so that's like $1.51 each.

We got over two feet of snow this week.
Barf.
But it did make for some great sledding action.

I threw my BFF a 30th birthday party!
I made Drunken Gummy Bears for the big event.
Here we are after a few of those said Gummy Bears.